Date: 09/03/2011

10-bit magnetic rotary encoder with integrated wake-up & power-down feature

austriamicrosystems has announced the AS5050 10-bit magnetic rotary encoder IC for contactless position sensing. Featuring automatic power-down and wake-up modes, the AS5050 encoder is targeted for low-power applications such as robotics and is also suited for servo motor control and as an input device for low-cost battery operated devices. austriamicrosystems says this is the industry's lowest power and smallest size device of its class.

The 4x4 mm QFN-16 packaged AS5050 integrates four Hall sensor elements, a 10-bit angle encoder, a smart power management controller and an easy-to-use 3- or 4-wire SPI communications interface. Depending on the readout rate, the current consumption is reduced to µA levels. For example, 50 µA at 10 measurements per second is typical current drain - the lowest in the industry.

austriamicrosystems says only a few passive components and a magnet rotating above the chip are necessary to assemble a contactless position measurement encoder system. The AS5050 magnetic rotary encoder performs all angle calculations on chip, features on-chip automatic wake-up and power-down, and only draws current when a new measurement is requested by the host controller. The AS5050 automatically powers down as soon as a measurement is completed.

Andreas Pfingstl, product marketing manager at austriamicrosystems, stated, "Thanks to its automatic shutdown and wake-up modes, the AS5050 is the industry's lowest power 10-bit magnetic rotary encoder available and extends the time between charges for battery powered equipment. It also offers simple hook-up to common microcontrollers with an industry-standard SPI interface."

The AS5050 rotary encoder IC operates from a 3.3 volt power supply over an ambient operating temperature range of -40 to +85°C.

Price & Availability

Sampling now, the price for the AS5050 10-bit rotary encoder is $ 2.84 in 1000-piece quantities.